Dieing Fish...

[DarkPhoenix86]

I got two fancy guppies. 1 male and one female. The female died in less than a week. So i got a new one. the the male died, so i got a new one. then, just yesterday, my other female died. I dunno why. I have 2 platies, 2 glass fish, 2 regular guppies, and an algae eater. lol, kinda like noah's ark. :D the other fish have been in there since like january, and i had no problems with them. just the new fancy guppies. can anyone tell me why they're dying? or does anyone have a guess...?

[belmont0182]

I dont know what the problem is, but i know alot of people that have alot of problems keeping guppies alive. My friends are always buying more guppies and they keep dieing.

[TKOS]

Tell us your tank size, water params (ph, temp, ammonia, nititres, nitrates) and how you acclimate these fish. The more we knwo the better able we are to help.

[JesseJ]

Give us your tank parameters and that may give us a clue. I bought a group of Fancy guppies for my community tank and I couldn't keep them alive. I did manage to save some fry born in my tank and I've had them for about 2 years.

[Makino]

same problem here. just couldn't keep them alive, and i keep discus! my tap water is ph 6.9, with a ppm of 120. i've heard they're not the hardiest of fish anymore due to intensive selective breeding. was kinda embarrassing when i told people i couldn't keep guppies alive! never kept them since.

[DarkPhoenix86]

it's a 20 gallon tank. ph is about 7.0 The temperature now is about 83 deg. before when i had them still alive, it was around 77 deg. i got the water tested, and they said that everything was ok. also, when i found the dead guppies, all that was left were bones...

[DarkPhoenix86]

also, sorry i didn't post this in the earlier one, i acclimated the fish for a half hour each still in the bag put in the bigger tank. Then I netted them out and put them into the big tank.

[OrionGirl]

Count me in the group that can't keep fancy guppies. Had a trio, and lost them all within about 4 weeks.

One small point--I do know that most livebearers fair better if there are 2+ females to each male. The constant attention of a male on one female can stress and kill her. Doesn't explain the male death, but could be part of the problem with the females.

[daveedka]

Just a quaestion, are you adding a little tank water as you acclimate, may be a big difference in your water vs the lfs, acclimate for PH and hardness by adding a little bit of tank water to the bag every 15 or 20 minutes, untill the bag is over 50 % tank water.

i've heard they're not the hardiest of fish anymore due to intensive selective breeding
This is Pretty much the case anymore:

When I breed for feeders I have found that the feeders(ugly guppies) I buy are far more hardy and prolific than fancy guppies, so that is where I end up getting my stock from.

[downloader]

Fancy guppies are not are hardy as they once were. When I as a kid I had guppys living and breeding a a jar. Now I can't keep them in a fully equipped tank. The one that are still easy to keep are the plain jane guppys. Maybe the fancy ones are too far removed from the wild ones. Any comments?



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[bozco]

I just reciently lost all my guppy stock, save for two females and their fry, but they were in teh fry tank. The 10 gal, housing about 15 guppies, temporarily until I had another tank set up, was hit by some mystery disease a few weeks after an introduction of a new male (neon green, very pretty). There are no surviving guppies and I will not be keeping them anymore after that. They are pretty fish, but to keep pulling out bodies and replaicng them I don't bother anymore. I have also heard that the feeder guppies, because they are not bred for certain traits (tail, colour, etc.) are much hardier than the fancies. This is seen in many domesticated animals, where breeding for physical traits has actually weakened the species. I doubt this is any different for fish.

I think that it might be an idea to start over with the lines. Gather some wild fish, and start the selective breeding from scratch again. It seems to me that guppies getting weaker might actually mean that we've gone as far as we can with the species. I've had gorgeous females die giving birth, while the plainer girls have spawned and spawned without even showing it. Even breeding the wild forms back into the lines with the fancies might help. Anyway, thats just my thought.

[PumaWard]

I have successfully collected fry from a fancy female X with a feeder male. The offspring were extremely hardy, (as new borns, they went from a tank with a ph of 8.3 and a temp of 78F to a tank with 7.4pH and 84F without dying. There was no acclimation {they were suppose to be live food}). The offspring are also suprisingly beautiful as well.

[afulltank]

I've never had a problem keeping fancy guppies alive. When I was little we had them in just a plain goldfish bowl and they were fine. Right now I have 5 in a 10 gallon tank with 2 corys and an ADF. I haven't had any problems yet. A friend of mine has 2 tanks full of guppies and the only problems she's had are keeping the fry alive but not the adults.

Maybe you should change where you purchase the guppies.

[afulltank]

I second the last comment about inbreeding. That could definitely be a problem. I would definitely think about buying them somewhere else.

[Must4ng s4lly]

I have kept fancy guppies for the last two years... my secret is to have live plants they can feed on (I think the eat the algae off?? Also, buy them from a store that has had the same stock for a while. Make sure they are good looking with good color and not too thin. Many shopkeepers don't take very good care of their guppies.... Oh and a little salt helps too. They like a little salt in their water. (Read this in Aquarium Fish mag). You may still lost one or two....

The suggestions and comments above are all good too. Good Luck!